Jovanovic: Kosovo has become a burden to the US; Escobar and Lajcak in Pristina to insist on the CSM

Former Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vladislav Jovanovic, tells Kosovo Online that tomorrow's visit of EU Envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and American emissary Gabriel Escobar to Priština should show how serious the warnings against Albin Kurti due to violent actions in the north are coming from Washington and Brussels.

Jovanovic points out that until now, more or less, everything has been left on the rhetorical "slaps on the wrist" of Kurti, and that the previous visits of the American-European duo and other Western officials had a short-term scope.

"Those earlier visits to both Pristina and Belgrade led to minimal progress and were more in the direction of further adapting Serbia to their final wishes than exerting real pressure on the side that is causing the problems. The Pristina side is not causing these problems on its own," Jovanovic says.

When asked if this visit was an opportunity for the US, above all, to show in action that they meant what they said when they criticized Kurti and warned him that serious consequences would follow if he did not listen to them, Jovanovic says that it will now be seen whether the last the crisis in the north "moved Washington and Brussels in the direction of a more realistic view when it comes to the problem of Kosovo".

"We will see if they realized that what they promised the Albanians in Kosovo has become an increasing obligation and difficulty for the American side and that they should slowly start preparing them for the fact that they can have a state, but that it is not possible for them to have an independent, but that it must be within Serbia. American global interests are such that it could push the US to start thinking in that direction. Perhaps this arrival of Escobar and Lajcak will not point that out so openly, but the fact is that the US is now facing much more serious challenges than Kosovo and that they will want to get rid of those 'small weights' on their legs. Because Kosovo has become an increasingly uncomfortable weight for the US," Jovanovic says.

He points out that Serbia should remain principled, to continue with the policy of willingness to cooperate with everyone, including the US and the EU.

"This will contribute to the fact that, above all, the US realizes that maintaining Serbia in its current position, that it remains independent, is more important to them than pushing for the independence of Kosovo. I expect that Escobar and Lajcak will insist on the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities tomorrow in Pristina, but I hope that the issue will not be diluted again, as it was until now, because it is a condition of all conditions for Belgrade and the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. It is important that Escobar and Lajcak be the ultimative when it comes to the CSM and that they threaten to revise the positions of Washington and Brussels towards independence of Kosovo if this is not respected," Jovanovic concludes.